Enter keywords or a search phrase below:
Looking for reference on sparrow missile colors used on USAF aircraft during the 1980's. Any help in this area would be very much appreciated.Thanks!
"Build what YOU want, the way YOU want, and above all have fun!" - RIP Modeler Al.
The AIM 7 missles carried on F-15s were white with a sort of cream color over the ceramic radome and dark metal fins.
Watch for the colored bands at different points on the missiles. I'm not sure about the fin color on the F-4 back then because the squadrons I was in had AIM-7s and 9s or AIM-4s and AIR-2s. Hasegawa pputs out weapons sets that have all the decals you would need for these weapons.
Watch for the colored bands at different points on the missiles. I'm not sure about the fin color on the F-4 back then because the squadrons I was in had AIM-7s and 9s or AIM-4s and AIR-2s.
Hasegawa pputs out weapons sets that have all the decals you would need for these weapons.
Thank you for the reply as it's very much appreciated.I'll look into the Hasegawa weapons kits.
I believe it's light ghost gray for the missile body.
Nathan T I believe it's light ghost gray for the missile body.
yes, in the early '80s, the main body color was changed from white to light ghost gray. Fins were often a dark color, and radome off white. Striping was brown for a live rocket motor and yellow for a live warhead. Blue stripes denote an inert warhead or motor or both for training rounds.
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
Stik covered it pretty good. I suggest looking into Two Bobs decals for the AA weapons. http://www.twobobs.net/index.html They are very accurate and give you the correct colored ring markings. The rocket nozzle plugs are either white or a red brown. Hasegawa does a poor job at detailing this. Academy has some nice missiles included with the new tooled F-4.
Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!
The dark portion on the fins i've mixed MM neutral gray and MM gunship gray 50:50 and used that. I don't know if it is right but it seems close enough.
Chasing the ultimate build.
Something else to consider is this: In the early '80s, as the AIM-7Ms became available they were all painted Light Ghost Grey very early into their career I believe. And I'm not sure if the AIM-7Es were re-painted or just phased out.
[URL=http://picasion.com/]
More than likely the AIM-7Es and 7Fs were fired in live fire training such as William Tell meets and such. The 7Ms were used to replace them as war stock for forward deployed units. The earlier Sparrows had different electronics- vacuum tube vs solid state, and motors. Only the airframe looked the same.
The AIM-7E ended production in 1974-75 and switched o the AIM-7F which was produced until I think 1982, with the AIM-7M full production starting in 1983. I believe that there is a maintance cycle for unfired rounds in inventory, to check the batteries, circuits, etc. The missiles were probably repainted when they went through the inspection.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.